Which "premier" account

[gibbon]

Marc p said:

Think you may have misunderstood me slightly, I understand the restrictions and yes it would dilute it if everyone could have access, but I have a feeling the OP was asking for maybe one of the paid for accounts, where you may pay £150 a year for better rates/service/etc, not one where you have to have a good chunk of money at any one time in your account or earning over £100k a year.

Ah right, understood.

[okgo]

The only reason people love First Direct so much on here is because they give you a black card even if you're poor.

[walm]

okgo said:

The only reason people love First Direct so much on here is because they give you a black card even if you're poor.

I also have a black card from... Capital One!!!!!
(In my defence for banking with the great unwashed, it used to have decent cash-back.)

[Jockman]

walm said:

I also have a black card from... Capital One!!!!!
(In my defence for banking with the great unwashed, it used to have decent cash-back.)

+1.

It still has decent cashback if you'churn' your money. At the end of every week I pay off my balance by debit card so as to free up my relatively small limit.

[HOGEPH]

I have the Nationwide Flex plus. As previously noted, travel insurance, phone insurance, Breakdown cover, extra year guarantee on household goods, card cover etc. The interest paid out usually covers half the cost.

[Funk]

HOGEPH said:

I have the Nationwide Flex plus. As previously noted, travel insurance, phone insurance, Breakdown cover, extra year guarantee on household goods, card cover etc. The interest paid out usually covers half the cost.

Another Nationwide FlexPlus customer here, more than happy with it too.

[walm]

Jockman said:

+1.

It still has decent cashback if you'churn' your money.

I don't understand.
They don't offer cash back at all - do they?

[Jockman]

walm said:

I don't understand.
They don't offer cash back at all - do they?

Yup. 0.5% I was reduced to from 1%.

[walm]

Jockman said:

walm said:

I don't understand.
They don't offer cash back at all - do they?

Yup. 0.5% I was reduced to from 1%.

Certainly mine used to offer it and it was on my statements - no more.
None of the ones the offer today to new customers have it and it appears on none of the "best buy" lists and the press made a big deal about reporting it when it was cut...
Perhaps you were one of the lucky ones!!

[Jockman]

walm said:

Jockman said:

walm said:

I don't understand.
They don't offer cash back at all - do they?

Yup. 0.5% I was reduced to from 1%.

Certainly mine used to offer it and it was on my statements - no more.
None of the ones the offer today to new customers have it and it appears on none of the "best buy" lists and the press made a big deal about reporting it when it was cut...
Perhaps you were one of the lucky ones!!

Sorry about that mate but I did hear there were 2 different letters sent out at the time.

If it helps, the cashback is less than £300 pa.

[jock mcsporran]

I have Barclays Premier but switched my main account to First Direct. Barclays was good value at the time but the prices have gone up recently so not so good anymore. I'm looking at switching the Barclays account to the Nationwide Premier one next time I'm home.

[z4RRSchris]

HSBC prem for me.

no idea about the perks, but the card is cool.

[JulianPH]

My experience of HSBC Premier started out brilliantly and degraded into the worst banking experiences possible. Despite far exceeding their requirements I ended up being kicked out when they changed the rules that you had to also have an HSBC product.

With Investec Voyage now and can recommend that. The concierge service is also really excellent.

[21TonyK]

I've been with Barclays Premier for 20+ years. Always been first class service and offered preferential rates.

[tankplanker]

Funk said:

Another Nationwide FlexPlus customer here, more than happy with it too.

Same here, cheapest way to get all the usual benefits.

HSBC is good if you have older kids as they can also get a premier account via yours, so they can get the cheaper mortgage rates and all the other benefits. They also allow you to act as a guarantee on your kids hsbc mortgage, great if you want to buy them a house while they are at uni or just starting out.

[Olf]

Classic example of OP disapearance.

[MagicMike]

Seems the consensus is towards HSBC Premier, thanks for the responses

[JulianPH]

I would seriously disagee, but that is only because of my own experience.

It was the best, but is now not even close (IMHO). Truely awful at every level (my experience).

Investec is not that good either, but a million miles ahead of HSBC.

[Jonesy23]

HSBC Premier isnt as good as it used to be, supposedly the offer is being reviewed to make it more competitive with rivals. The investment side went right down the toilet a while back due to external factors, and if you need to deal with that bit has a high rate of cockup though very quick to compensate for mistakes.

Call centre stuff is pretty handy being able to get through to a decent UK handler at any time. Not sure how the competition compares but was useful to be able to sort quite complex stuff on the phone at 11pm on a Sunday.

Also handy to be able to (relatively) easily do accounts in multiple countries. Automatically qualify for Premier accounts due to already having one rather than having to meet whatever the local requirement is eg. Get for free without needing a €60K cash holding in the account. Global view via the HSBC app is useful for seeing what is where.

Premier branches (where they exist) have minimal extra value to me as things get sorted out just as well in a normal branch without the fancy environs. Relationship manager is worth having though as a point of contact for getting things done.

[tankplanker]

Best call center used to be Lloyds Premier, it used to ring once, if at all before the call was answered by a real person. Then Lloyds removed the earning cap from the eligibility requirements, reduced the quality of services and introduced a forced automated gatekeeper system, so I switched bank accounts as soon as.